Rotel DT-6000 Review & Measurements (CD Player / DAC)

[Neric]

The whole history of this noise in software version 1.04 is very strange. There is no noise when using an optical or coaxial connection. The noise is only present in CD standby mode.
Yes, I use RCA cables to connect the DT-6000 to the amplifier.

I just left my player in CD stop mode for 30 mins and nothing. If someone else can reproduce they can get that data to Rotel.

Can you record on a phone and put it on YT? Phones have decibel meters, can use that to measure the level. Basically it would be good to talk about it in a scientific sense. Engineers at Rotel would want that.

 

[Alex P]

Can you record on a phone and put it on YT?

I recorded the noise on my phone in .aac format. I put it in a zip archive. So you can listen to this.

 

[Neric]

I recorded the noise on my phone in .aac format. I put it in a zip archive. So you can listen to this.

Ok that's very strange, it's not regular in sound. How loud is a CD if you play at the same position on the dial?

 

[Alex P]

Ok that's very strange, it's not regular in sound. How loud is a CD if you play at the same position on the dial?

Very, very loud. I don't listen at this volume... it's dangerous for my health
I heard this noise quite by accident when I turned the volume knob more than necessary. When CD playback has been stopped.

 

[Neric]

Very, very loud. I don't listen at this volume... it's dangerous for my health
I heard this noise quite by accident when I turned the volume knob more than necessary. When CD playback has been stopped.

So this is annoying but not a deal breaker? Then enjoy the sound and wait on Rotel. We can see if anyone else gets this.

 

[Alex P]

So this is annoying but not a deal breaker? Then enjoy the sound and wait on Rotel. We can see if anyone else gets this.

I just returned the software version to 1.03 and that's it. There is no noise in this version. Sounds great.
Let's wait for an updated version of the software from Rotel.

 

[BlackSpider777]

@BlackSpider777 did you update to 1.04 do you have any issues?

Yes i updated to 1.04 through usb drive & it was faultless, happened in few seconds which was impressive.
The bug i was getting is that in PC USB mode the DT6000 would not display the bit rate playing few tracks with my Node X.
Never had this issue with my previous streamer which was a Lumin. The sound plays fine but the display say "No Signal" In PC Mode.
If i pause the track & then resume, then the bit rate info displays on the DT6000, seems to be some handshake issue with the Node X & DT6000.

Unfortunately the V1.04 didn't help here but this happens only in few tracks & not all the time, will try a digital connection tom mostly coaxial & see if this bug is still there.
Also interested to see if the sound gets improved.

 

[Neric]

Yes i updated to 1.04 through usb drive & it was faultless, happened in few seconds which was impressive.
The bug i was getting is that in PC USB mode the DT6000 would not display the bit rate playing few tracks with my Node X.
Never had this issue with my previous streamer which was a Lumin. The sound plays fine but the display say "No Signal" In PC Mode.
If i pause the track & then resume, then the bit rate info displays on the DT6000, seems to be some handshake issue with the Node X & DT6000.

Unfortunately the V1.04 didn't help here but this happens only in few tracks & not all the time, will try a digital connection tom mostly coaxial & see if this bug is still there.
Also interested to see if the sound gets improved.

That sounds like a handshake issue. On the PC you need to install rotel usb drivers to get full functions. This is one reason I like toslink - no mechanical connection and it's a well understood system that's been around for a long time.

If it's done correctly Digital should sound the same as long as the sender and receiver are compatible. For me USB changed the behavior in a negative way, so I gave up trying to do direct DSD to the DT-6000. I did some AB tests where I was blind between DSD and PCM and I can't tell the difference, so I'm not going to fret about that. I can tell the difference between my amp and my other amp, as could my wife when I made her do it blind. But digital is another world.

 

[Alex P]

This is one reason I like toslink - no mechanical connection and it's a well understood system that's been around for a long time.

Yes, the optical connection allows galvanic isolation of the transport (РС) and the DAC. This is an undoubted advantage of such a connection.

 

[Alex P]

The sound plays fine but the display say "No Signal" In PC Mode.

I had a similar case. The problem was that the USB cable was not securely connected to the computer's USB port. Poor contact.
In fact, a reliable USB connection and good cable shielding are very important when connecting the DT-6000 via PC-USB. The point here is to reduce the jitter level with this connection. And this is critical for high-quality sound... in my humble opinion.
For this purpose, I made a homemade USB cable from a two-core shielded cable to connect a microphone. I connected the +5 V power line and the data line separately, shielding each separately. Thereby eliminating the mutual influence of these two lines. In addition, I connected the power line shielding only on the PC side, and the data line shielding on the DT-6000 DAC side.
Thus, I slightly galvanically isolated the PC and the DT-6000 DAC.
I really liked the result.

 

[BlackSpider777]

I had a similar case. The problem was that the USB cable was not securely connected to the computer's USB port. Poor contact.
In fact, a reliable USB connection and good cable shielding are very important when connecting the DT-6000 via PC-USB. The point here is to reduce the jitter level with this connection. And this is critical for high-quality sound... in my humble opinion.
For this purpose, I made a homemade USB cable from a two-core shielded cable to connect a microphone. I connected the +5 V power line and the data line separately, shielding each separately. Thereby eliminating the mutual influence of these two lines. In addition, I connected the power line shielding only on the PC side, and the data line shielding on the DT-6000 DAC side.
Thus, I slightly galvanically isolated the PC and the DT-6000 DAC.
I really liked the result.

I m using a Chord Shawline usb cable & the same cable was showing all sample rates on the DT6000 with the previous Lumin streamer.
Will replug it later today on both the DT6000 & Node X & see if it will make a difference.

 

[Alex P]

I m using a Chord Shawline usb cable & the same cable was showing all sample rates on the DT6000 with the previous Lumin streamer.
Will replug it later today on both the DT6000 & Node X & see if it will make a difference.

Ok.
After updating the DT-6000 software to version 1.04 in CD mode, the noise that I described earlier is not heard?

 

[BlackSpider777]

Ok.
After updating the DT-6000 software to version 1.04 in CD mode, the noise that I described earlier is not heard?

Will check on it & update on that too..

 

[Alex P]

Greetings, gentlemen! So, software update for DT-6000 version 1.05 has been released. Yesterday I installed it and checked for the presence of high-frequency noise, which I wrote about earlier. The noise remained. The guys from Rotel did not fix the problem. The new version of the software turned out to be junk again. Threw it away. Wrote to the developers. And I again installed software version 1.03 on my DT-6000.

 

[Neric]

Greetings, gentlemen! So, software update for DT-6000 version 1.05 has been released. Yesterday I installed it and checked for the presence of high-frequency noise, which I wrote about earlier. The noise remained. The guys from Rotel did not fix the problem. The new version of the software turned out to be junk again. Threw it away. Wrote to the developers. And I again installed software version 1.03 on my DT-6000.

Thanks for the note that the update is out, have you taken your DT-6000 and put it on another system to see if it reproduces the issue? Different cables different gear? Maybe it's not the DT-6000 alone but in combination with something that exposes the issue. Might be a good idea since no one else has reported the issue.

 

[BlackSpider777]

Ok.
After updating the DT-6000 software to version 1.04 in CD mode, the noise that I described earlier is not heard?

Update-

I couldn't replicate the noise issue on my system.

 

[BlackSpider777]

Greetings, gentlemen! So, software update for DT-6000 version 1.05 has been released. Yesterday I installed it and checked for the presence of high-frequency noise, which I wrote about earlier. The noise remained. The guys from Rotel did not fix the problem. The new version of the software turned out to be junk again. Threw it away. Wrote to the developers. And I again installed software version 1.03 on my DT-6000.

I was going to update to the latest software v1.05. For some apparent reason they have pulled it out from the website. Only v1.04 can be downloaded, guess there is an issue with the latest firmware that was uploaded.

 

[Alex P]

I was going to update to the latest software v1.05. For some apparent reason they have pulled it out from the website. Only v1.04 can be downloaded, guess there is an issue with the latest firmware that was uploaded.

Apparently my letter reached these unfortunate software developers In the last letter I sent them an audio file with a recording of the noise. Let's see what they do this time.

 

[Alex P]

Thanks for the note that the update is out, have you taken your DT-6000 and put it on another system to see if it reproduces the issue? Different cables different gear? Maybe it's not the DT-6000 alone but in combination with something that exposes the issue. Might be a good idea since no one else has reported the issue.

No, I did not conduct any experiments on replacing equipment, much less cables.

 

[Neric]

No, I did not conduct any experiments on replacing equipment, much less cables.

If you can prove that it reproduces in another setting that would go a long way in getting Rotel interested in this.